Pokémon Red and Blue/Legendaries

You might think that you have explored the entire game by now, but you’d be wrong. There are two large out-of-the-way areas you have yet to visit. One of them, the Power Plant, contains Zapdos, the most powerful Electric Pokémon. Another, Seafoam Island, contains Articuno, the most powerful Ice Pokémon. We are going to catch both. Before leaving, buy as many Ultra Balls as you can afford; you will be using a large number of them.

The Power Plant
Fly to Cerulean City and go east towards Rock Tunnel. However, now that you can Surf, you will find a watery area to the north that leads around behind the rocks. At the end of this waterway is a large building: the Power Plant. This is a very large area, but it is actually a straight path. Be sure to explore every side room that you find, as several contain items. A Carbos is located right near the entrance. The second side room you encounter contains TM 33 (Reflect). The third contains TM 25 (Thunder). The fourth contains a Rare Candy and an HP Up. Beware, however: while it may look like there are far more items than this in the Power Plant, all item balls except the ones outlined above are really Voltorb in disguise. If you disturb one, prepare to battle! You will also find a hidden Max Revive in the first side room you pass, along with two Voltorb. The final side room, which is very small and contains a Voltorb, also contains a hidden PP Up.

You’ll find Zapdos waiting for you in the very last room. Before you talk to it, save your game. When battling any Legendary Pokémon, you have one chance to catch it. If you defeat a Legendary Pokémon by mistake, it will vanish and you will never see it again. If this happens, reload the game without saving and try again. You catch a Legendary Pokémon just like you would any other Pokémon: knock its health low, give it a status condition if you can, and then start lobbing Poké Balls. It will take many tries to catch a legendary Pokémon, and every Ultra Ball you throw that Zapdos breaks out of is wasted.

Seafoam Island
Before you begin, you will need to get the Strength HM and teach it to a Pokémon. Seafoam Island is quite a maze, and you will need to move a lot of boulders.

Fly to Fuchsia City and Surf south. If you go east from Cinnabar Island, you will be starting at the wrong end of the dungeon. (Were you to travel directly from Fuchsia to Cinnabar, you would have to go through Seafoam Island before you could reach Cinnabar Island, and it’s quite a hike.) Seafoam Island’s exterior is composed of two small cave openings, blocked off so that you are forced to go through the cave in order to get past. Before you enter, there is an enemy Trainer in the water to the south of the entrance.

As you enter, you will find yourself in a large open space. While there are plenty of wild Pokémon, there are no enemy Trainers within the cave. Go northeast and you’ll see a pair of boulders and holes. In the lower level of Seafoam Island, there is running water that you cannot Surf across. The boulders will be used to block off the current so that you can Surf like usual. There are two boulders on the first floor you must push all the way down to the second basement to block off the current there. Once you do that, you can Surf across the water and find a series of ladders that leads you to the exit. If you are looking to catch Articuno, however, you’ll need to also move a second set of rocks and go into the cave in a different direction.

Start off and push the rock into the hole. Go west, up the stairs, and past the ladder to find another boulder and hole. Push this boulder into the hole, then go down the ladder. This will bring you to an enclosed area with another hole. Push the boulder into that, then backtrack. Go down the ladder you passed before.

You will arrive on a stone platform. Go down the steps, then east and north past another ladder. At the end you’ll find that boulder you’ve been moving, next to yet another hole. Push it down, then go back to where you first entered this level. To the left you’ll find another ladder down; descend and follow the path to that same boulder and yet another hole. Push one into the other, then backtrack. You can take either the ladder in the middle on the stony outcropping, or go southeast and down the ladder there; both lead to the same place. Go southwest from the ladder on the platform, or straight west from the other ladder, and go down yet again.

You’ll end up near a number of boulders and two holes. You must solve this puzzle in order to catch Articuno. Head east then south to find some stairs that will lead you to this area. Push the boulder blocking off the small area all the way to the left, then push the boulder next to it into the hole. Go back to the two boulders sitting side-by-side. Push the right-hand boulder all the way up, then push the left boulder down, left three times, then down again into the hole.

Backtrack to the ladder you entered this floor with. Go north from there and you’ll find a ladder leading to the deepest level of Seafoam Island. To get to Articuno, Surf on the water and go north to a stone platform. A Level-50 Articuno awaits. Save your game before battling him, then catch it the same way you caught Zapdos. If you can put Articuno to sleep, that might be helpful.

Once you’ve caught Articuno, you still need to find your way to the exit. Go back to the ladder you entered from, then go northeast. You will find stairs down into more water and a ladder up. If you want, you can Surf on this pool and go to the southeast corner; you will find a small empty area that contains a hidden Ultra Ball. Go up the ladder and you’ll end up right next to another ladder; continue up. You will now find the boulder from earlier. Once you push it into the hole here, you are done pushing boulders. Backtrack past Articuno to the area where the four boulders were that you moved earlier. If you go east then north from the ladder leading up, then you’ll find some water. If all the boulders were moved as described, you can Surf on this water. (If not, you would be pushed by the current down to Articuno’s level.) Go southeast to the other set of stairs, then follow the path to reach the exit. There is one last enemy Trainer in the ocean just south of the area’s exit.